2014 Red Rock Film Festival

Beirut in Two Words
(Germany) 29 min. (2014) Documentary Short
DIR Anne Chahine
The documentary aims to give one of the most diverse cities of the Middle East a voice of its own. Nine members of Beirutës music and art scene share their thoughts on living and working in a city where at times beauty and suspense go hand in hand.

Under the Same Sun
(Israel, Palestinian Territories, USA) 75 min. (2013) Fiction Full-length Feature
DIR Sameh Zoabi  CAST Ali Suliman,Yossi Marshek, Lucy Aharish, Dirar Suleiman, Levana Finkelstein
The film is set in the near future.  It is the highly dramatic story of two businessmen, Shaul Cohen, an Israeli, and Nizar Ahmad, a Palestinian.  They set out to make money and wind up making peace. They must deal with strong opposition to their working together and overcome the hostility from people around them as they work together to set up a solar energy company.  An Israeli journalist writes an article describing their venture and subsequently, Nizar becomes the subject of fierce attacks on Facebook and from his own family for promoting “normalization” with Israelis.  Fearing for his life, he cuts off contact with Shaul. Determined to continue, Shaul decides that he should go to Ramallah to see Nizar, even though Israeli Jews are legally forbidden to travel to Palestinian areas.  Shaul shows up at Nizar’s house.  Nizar is moved.  They reconcile.  But they recognize that their business will have little chance of success without peace.  They mount an appeal on Facebook that brings popular support to both their venture and to the peace negotiations, which have been in the background during the film.  Their Facebook campaign strikes a chord with millions of Israelis and Palestinians, and they register a huge number of “likes.”  Popular support for peace surges in both societies, and the politicians finally sign a treaty.

Gaspé Copper
(Canada) 14 min. (2013) Fiction Short
DIR Alexis Fortier Gauthier
Murdochville,1957. A family is forced to move, as the father, pained by a long miners' strike, finds a new job in the city.